Cleanthony Early, Courtney Fells Dealt in Three-Team Trade

WHITE PLAINS, NY, December 21, 2016 – The Westchester Knicks, the official NBA Development League affiliate of the New York Knickerbockers, announced today the team has acquired guard Courtney Fells from the Santa Cruz Warriors in a three-team trade that will send forward Cleanthony Early to Santa Cruz.

In addition to Fells, Westchester will also receive the returning player rights to Justin Martin from the Texas Legends. Santa Cruz will also receive the returning player rights to Nick Covington from Westchester and Ronnie Aguilar from Texas. Texas will receive Santa Cruz’s 2017 second and third-round picks, along with the returning player rights to Verdell Jones and Joe Alexander from Santa Cruz.

Fells (6-5, 205) went undrafted in the 2009 NBA Draft after four years at North Carolina State. A veteran of eight seasons in professional basketball, Fells has played with 11 different teams internationally across Cyprus, Israel, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Venezuela, Turkey, Argentina, and Italy. He spent one season with the NBA D-League’s Austin Toros (Spurs) in 2013-14 and has averaged 7.7 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.7 assists over 27.8 minutes in 10 games for the Texas Legends this season.

Texas Legends Release

FRISCO, TX (Dec. 21, 2016)–The Texas Legends announced today that they have completed a three-team trade with the Westchester Knicks and Santa Cruz Warriors. Details of the trade are below.

Texas will receive Santa Cruz’s 2017 2nd and 3rd round picks as well as returning player rights to Verdell Jones and Joe Alexander from Santa Cruz. In turn, Texas sends guard/forward Courtney Fells to Westchester along with returning player rights to Justin Martin. Santa Cruz receives returning player rights to Ronnie Aguilar from Texas as well as forward Cleanthony Early and returning player rights to Nick Covington from Westchester.

Jones (6-5, 185, Indiana) played four seasons at Indiana averaging 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 117 games and earning All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Jones joined the Santa Cruz Warriors last season playing all 50 games (31 starts) and averaging 16.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals.

Alexander (6-8, 230, West Virginia) was drafted in the first round (8th overall) of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. As a rookie, Alexander played 59 games with the Bucks averaging 4.7 points, 1.9 rebounds. In three seasons at West Virginia, Alexander averaged 12.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.2 blocks and earned All-AAC First Team and AAC All-Tournament Team. Alexander played 47 games with Texas in 2010-11 averaging 20.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.5 blocks and leading the Legends to their first playoff appearance.